# Casu Marzu: ILLEGAL Italian cheese (be warned: very gross!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 12, 2008, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220 "2008-09-12T03:35:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/21 "2008-09-12T13:02:42Z")
Customer: I would like to buy some Casu Marzu, please. Vendor to assistant: Release a cheese! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/22 "2008-09-12T14:22:53Z")
There’s a chemical solution that funeral homes and forensic pathologists use to deactivate the, um fly larvae in bodies that have ripened a bit too long (I helped out on one such forensic case during training). Just soak the cheese in that stuff for a few minutes and you’re good to go. Seriously, Casu Marzu sounds almost as bad as lutefisk. ---
**Author:** ![Amber\_in\_Treasury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Amber\_in\_Treasury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amber_in_Treasury)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/23 "2008-09-12T14:44:53Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > I never met a ladle I didn’t like. > > Well, that’s not true, but I will still try every ladle at least once. > > If somebody is willing to mail me one of those ladles, I’ll try it and youtube my reaction. I am seriously psyched about wanting to try this ladle. Fixed. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/24 "2008-09-12T14:56:52Z")
You folks are so wimpy. Ok, if maggot-infested cheese is too gross, maybe **mite** -infested cheese would be more palatable: [Milbenkäse - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milbenk%C3%A4se) Enjoy! ---
**Author:** ![evilhomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/43a26b/32.png) [@evilhomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhomer)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/25 "2008-09-12T14:57:04Z")
> [@slaphead](#): > > I believe the sensible way of ‘preparing’ the cheese is to store it in a paper bag. CO2 builds up and starts to suffocate the worms, causing them to leap in order to find fresh air. When the sounds of worms rattling against the paper ceases, the cheese should be pretty safe to eat, since most of the worms will have left and anyway they will all be dead. It’s kind of like listening for the bag of microwave popcorn to stop popping, but much, much more disgusting. I don’t even want to think about the “old maids” in the cheese. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/26 "2008-09-12T14:59:24Z")
You’re all a bunch of whiny, childish picky eaters. If your house serves you this cheese, you should eat it and like it. Anything less would be a grave insult to your hosts. Anyhow, I’ll admit that I absolutely refuse to eat the Casu Marzu at Olive Garden, much less anything else there. It’s not authentic. ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/27 "2008-09-12T15:07:26Z")
I’ve eaten many a stinky cheese in my day, some so rotten that I thought it had flies in it, but never one with actual flies. I would agree that some sort of, um, pasteurization may be in order but I would also fear that heating the cheese would break down some of the protein and seperate some of the fatty solids changing it’s whole character. Perhaps a heavy pressing or running through a sieve would remove some of the insects, lack (or overdose) of oxygen might also kill the little buggers. Although they should probably be left alive until shortly before eating, the wiki article mentions that the cheese can decompose to a toxic state and living worms are an old folk method of making sure this hasn’t happened. So, yeah, I’d try it once. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/28 "2008-09-12T15:16:23Z")
Oh \*HELL \*no! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/29 "2008-09-12T15:31:47Z")
> [@Amber\_in\_Treasury](#): > > Fixed. Please don’t alter text inside quotation boxes. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/30 "2008-09-12T16:00:55Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > I never met a cheese I didn’t like. > > Well, that’s not true, but I will still try every cheese at least once. > > If somebody is willing to mail me some, I’ll try it and youtube my reaction. I am seriously psyched about wanting to try this cheese. Did you miss the part about “boring through the intestinal walls” and “bloody diarrhoea”? And the part where it says _there are fucking maggots in the cheese, man_? ---
**Author:** ![Frustrated\_Wonderer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a4c791/32.png) [@Frustrated\_Wonderer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frustrated_Wonderer)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/31 "2008-09-12T16:13:49Z")
Just suffocate the maggots with the techniques already mentioned. Or make sure you chew on them hard. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Debon\_Err](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ea924/32.png) [@Debon\_Err](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debon_Err)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/32 "2008-09-12T16:47:58Z")
I never met a cheese I didn’t like either. Until now. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/33 "2008-09-12T17:15:23Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > If somebody is willing to mail me some, I’ll try it and youtube my reaction. I am seriously psyched about wanting to try this cheese. See, that’s the good thing about this stuff, you can send it pretty much anywhere, I mean how much worse could anything possibly get after it’s been infested by maggots? On a related note, for those that have so far missed it, here’s [Steve, Don’t Eat It!](http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/cat_steve_dont_eat_it.php) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/34 "2008-09-12T17:18:10Z")
> [@evlkitty](#): > > I never met a cheese I didn’t like either. Until now. Appropriate, since this is the one sort of cheese that you’d quite literally _be meeting_. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/35 "2008-09-12T17:34:58Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Appropriate, since this is the one sort of cheese that you’d quite literally _be meeting_. “Meet the Beetles”, indeed. (Or, “meat the beetles”.) ---
**Author:** ![Debon\_Err](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ea924/32.png) [@Debon\_Err](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debon_Err)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/36 "2008-09-12T19:16:41Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > “Meet the Beetles”, indeed. (Or, “meat the beetles”.) Or Beat the meatles… ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/37 "2008-09-13T00:06:36Z")
Somebody should notify that dude on the Travel Channel who’s always in foreign countries eating poached goat anuses and that sort of thing. Or has he already signed the guest book and left? In a similar vein, has anyone tried [fried fish semen?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milt) ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/38 "2008-09-13T01:25:51Z")
Well, I would hesitate eating the maggots, but seriously, how is eating the cheese any different then eating other stuff produced by animals? Honey is secreted by bees. Milk is secreated by a goat, then eaten by bacteria, or, in the case of some french cheeses, moulds and fungus. Besides, shrimp look a lot like maggots, when you think about it. Hm… I love shrimp, but I wouln’t eat them raw and squirmy. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/39 "2008-09-13T01:41:07Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Well, I would hesitate eating the maggots, but seriously, how is eating the cheese any different then eating other stuff produced by animals? Cheese is bizarre on its own. Take glandular secretions of a mammal, scald it, let some bacteria have at 'er, add a little magic extracted from the mucosa of its stomach… maybe add a little mold for texture & flavour… Maggots are almost a natural extension of that. Thanks for the link, **Frustrated Wonderer** - I have a new show to watch - it looks way more interesting than the two others of Mr. Ramsay’s I’ve seen with the missus. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220/40 "2008-09-13T01:44:29Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > In a similar vein, has anyone tried [fried fish semen?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milt) Yes. Battered fried milt is quite tasty, actually. I believe it’s the entire seminal sac when its fried. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casu-marzu-illegal-italian-cheese-be-warned-very-gross/463220.md?page=3)